The Manila Times PEZA’s Management Miracle Story L


AST November 30, Lilia B. de Lima was honored as the Management Man of the Year 2010 by the Management Associa- tion of the Philippines. She was cited for her achieve- ments as director general or CEO of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA). Her work at PEZA for the past


15 years has brought in hundreds of foreign investors, P1.5 trillion in investments, $354 billion in exports and over 600,000 in job generation. She also proved that a government agency can indeed be graft-free and red-tape-free. Lilia’s MAP award is unprec- edented for at least three reasons. One, she is the first woman Management Man of the Year. In 42 years of the award, 32 men have received it. No woman.


Until this year, the 43rd year of the award. Even then, she was paired with a male awardee, Ramon del Rosario Jr.


Second, Lilia is the first


awardee—not for managing a business enterprise—or the cen- tral bank—but for managing a chain of economic zones. Third, Lilia is one awardee whose work is still very much felt—by private business and by the country.


Of 34 Management Man


awardees, 21 or 62 percent either retired or died after receiving the award. The corporations or busi- nesses of eight of the awardees ceased to exist or became bank- rupt or died a natural death. Thus, Lilia’s Management Man


of the Year award is one that lends fervor and armor to the award


TONY LOPEZ


and not the other way around. The MAP’s prestige award is conferred on individuals in busi- ness or in government for un- questioned distinction in man- agement and for contributing to the country’s progress.


Indeed, more than the num-


bers, which are impressive, be- hind Lilia’s PEZA work, is the cul- ture and ethic behind it. She reduced PEZA’s work force by half. That’s economics. But she


The Ople spirit lives on


14, 2003, when I received a dis- turbing call from my daughter Tita, an administrative assistant in the labor office of the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong. “Papa,” she said excitedly. “The people here in the Consulate are agog over rumors that Secretary Ople is dead. Word has spread swiftly that he was aboard a plane on his way to Bahrain when he suf- fered a heart attack. Please check.” It was about 5 a. m. and I jumped from bed to immediately call Mila Cruz, Ople’s secretary, who was always with him on of- ficial trips and international con- ferences abroad. But her cell phone was not responding. My next instinct was to call


I


Toots, Ople’s daughter and chief of staff as foreign secretary, but I was told she was in Bahrain. I fi- nally got confirmation on Ople’s death from Fred de la Rosa, a col- league on Ople’s writing staff, later in the morning.


Fred said he had contacted Mila and that she and the rest of the secretary’s staff were in Taipei, where Ople’s plane had made an emergency landing in an epic ef- fort to bring the secretary to a


WILL always remember that fateful morning of December


ALFREDO G. ROSARIO


hospital and save his life. News of Ople’s death swept a shocked nation. Encomiums from his close associates and friends in media about his states- manship and dedicated public service filled the newscasts on ra- dio and television. The following day, the Bulletin headlined the Ople story. In paying tribute to Ople’s out- standing contribution to his country, then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered appro- priate state honors for Ople‘s fu- neral, which included his burial at the Libingan. Today (Tuesday, December 14), relatives, friends and close associates of the late statesman will hold a Mass at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City, to commemorate his seventh death anniversary.


Ople is dead, but his spirit lives


on in poor youths who saw his success story of rising to high eminence from poverty as their inspiration to study and work hard to have a better future, in people whose lives he had touched, and in the millions of workers who found overseas jobs through his overseas employ- ment program.


Ople himself acknowledged


workers migration as his greatest legacy to the Filipino people. There are more than 8 million now working abroad, remitting yearly about $17 billion yearly to their families. The overseas employment pro- gram, intended initially as a stop- gap measure to reduce the gallop- ing unemployment rate in the 1970s, has since become a major economic pillar of government. As labor chief, Ople had cre- ated some kind of a cult of gifted and promising young executives in the labor department who were to be known in his inner cir- cle as “Ople boys” and “Ople girls.” They were later to emerge as his administrative legacy to the Department of Labor and Em- ployment by taking turns as labor secretaries in their own right. The incumbent secretary,


Rosalinda Baldoz, is one such gifted official who, along with other past secretaries, had sat at Ople’s feet at one time or another. Also in that elite group was


Ruben Torres, who had served as President Fidel Ramos’ labor sec- retary before being named execu- tive secretary.


The others who had served in succession as labor chiefs were Nieves Confesor, now with the Asian Institute of Management; Ambassador to Canada Chito Brillantes, who had served foreign undersecretary; and Crescencio Trajano. They served during Ramos‘ presidency, like Torres. Benny Laguesma was appointed labor chief by President Joseph Estrada, while Pat Sto. Tomas, Arturo Brion (now associate justice of the Supreme Court), and Marianito Rqoue, were all appoint- ees of President Arroyo.


Secretary Baldoz, an appointee of President Noynoy Aquino, has been doing fine and coping well with the challenges facing the labor department. Like Ople, she has shown a passion for work, dedication to duty, moral respon- sibility and fairness.


agr0324@yahoo.com How our allergy to risk is hurting the economic recovery


IT is becoming clear that the Great Recession has left a deep and possibly lasting scar on the American psyche. From CEOs to ordinary families, we are a nation that is more cautious, more fear- ful and more risk-averse. This widespread and—so far—inde- structible anxiety has hobbled the recovery and helps explain the slow pace of job creation. The economy’s revival depends in part on risk-taking, but risk-tak- ing is in eclipse. There is a wall of worry, whose cause transcends the recession’s severity. We now fear not only what we know but also what we don’t. Things happened that were both unanticipated and unima- gined: the collapse of major banks; the near-death of General Motors; the government’s titanic economic rescue efforts—the Troubled Assets Relief Program, the Federal Reserve’s massive lend- ing, the gargantuan budget defi- cits. More surprises could loom. A full-scale European debt crisis? It’s possible, of course, to ex- aggerate pessimism and under- rate Americans’ traditional hope- fulness. Even the weakened U.S. economy produces almost $15 trillion of goods and services a year and employs 139 million people. Still, the mass uncertainty and fright remain undeniable. Americans are not merely re- ducing debts. They’re erecting pro- tections against unpredicted ad- versities. For a record 23rd straight month, more than half of US households expect no income


Eton’s Mañalac protests story ‘Builders welcome new


accounting standards’


THIS is regarding the article that came out in the front page of your newspaper yesterday De- cember 10, 2010 with the head- ing “Builders welcome new ac- counting standards.” First of all, I never mentioned


that we welcome this system. This is gravely inaccurate. The whole two-hour interview was only sup- posed to be focused only on the Eton City project and the IFRIC 15


Send comments to opinion@manilatimes.net or write to the Opinion Editor, The Manila Times, 2/F Dante Ang and Associates Building, 409 A. Soriano Avenue, Intramuros, Manila 1002


was just mentioned in passing and we did not even get into the details. The four major real estate or- ganizations worked really hard against the implementation of this new accounting system. The three-year moratorium was granted to give the developers ample time to study and present


a more appropriate accounting reporting system which is suited for the Philippine setting. A study of the said proposed more suitable accounting system is still on-going.


ALEJANDRO S. MAÑALAC Vice President—Sales (Eton City)


years, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has warned. Chief executives share the risk-


ROBERT J. SAMUELSON


gains in the next year, reports the University of Michigan’s con- sumer survey. Only a quarter fore- cast higher incomes. For many households, the recession’s “pri- mary lesson,” notes survey direc- tor Richard Curtin, “was that the only sure source of financial secu- rity was their own savings.” In the bubble years, people borrowed because they felt they could repay; now they don’t borrow because they worry they can’t. Those with work can see the


devastating impact of being with- out. Two-fifths of the unem- ployed have been jobless more than six months. The 2001 reces- sion wiped out 2.7 million pay- roll jobs, and it took four years for the economy to recover the lost jobs, says Joseph Seneca of Rutgers University. The loss in the latest slump was 8.4 million, and only 1 million have returned. It will take much, much longer be- fore all do. With young people entering the workforce, the un- employment rate may not fall below 6 percent for four or five


aversion. Appearing on CNBC, former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan noted that companies are hoarding cash. Firms usually invest 100 percent or more of cash flow (profits plus depreciation) in new buildings, equipment and software. The ratio dips during re- cessions, but Greenspan calculates it’s now below 80 percent—the lowest since at least 1952. Com- panies prefer to repay debt, buy back stock or build reserves against a crisis. Another sign of caution: Half of new jobs are in “temporary help” agencies. Firms resist hiring full-time workers. A similar nervousness afflicts the stock market. Many investors have quit. They can’t stand the volatility. In 2007, stock mutual funds received net inflows of $91 billion; in 2010, net outflows so far have totaled $31 billion. By some indicators, stock prices are low. Greenspan says the “equity risk premium” is at a 50-year high. This means that investors aren’t paying much for present profits. Either stock prices are ex- ceptionally depressed or the economy’s future performance is being heavily discounted. All this may seem a prudent re- action to the follies that fostered the financial crisis. But where does prudence stop and paranoia start? The economics of mood swings are obscure, even to economists. If Americans are blue today, might they be rosy tomorrow? A contin-


ued recovery could prove reassur- ing. As confidence builds, the economy could spontaneously ac- celerate. On the other hand, deep- seated anxieties might defy easy remediation. The serial efforts at economic “stimulus” (example: last week’s proposed cut in payroll taxes) could prove ineffective. If they telegraph government leaders’ desperation, they could deepen the public’s own doubts. Consumers, business managers and investors might become more precautionary. The Great Recession’s most wor- risome legacy could be this com- mon allergy toward risk-taking. Having underestimated risks in the bubble years, we may overestimate them now. Consider the shriveling of venture capital—a big source of money for high-tech start-ups. In 2009, venture capital funds re- ceived less than half the $35 bil- lion they raised in 2007, and in- flows in 2010 are running 27 per- cent below 2009 levels. The insti- tutions (pensions, endowments) and wealthy individuals that pro- vide venture capital have less money to invest and are less will- ing to commit it to chancy firms. Growth companies are being choked. The flight from risk is reinforced by an aging society— are 55-year-olds more daring than 35-year-olds?—and govern- ment regulations inspired by the last financial crisis. The caution- ary bias is an understandable re- action to the past that could bur- den the future.


opinion@manilatimes.net


Eton Properties Sales Corporation and Board Vice Chairman National Real Estate Association


Office : (632) 845-ETON (3866) Direct Line : (632) 889-4205 Mobile : 0918-985- 9999 website: www.asm.etonsales.com.ph


Editors note: The Business section edi- tors had nothing to do with processing the story by Krista Montealegre that appearedon page 1 under the head- line “Builders welcome new account- ing standards.” The story indeed did not say that the real estate industry welcomed the IFRIC 15 system.


■ Brazil’s first female president Dilma Rousseff NOT ONLY IN THE PHILIPPINES


New Brazil leader adds to LatAm ‘woman’s touch’


BY ALDO GAMBOA AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE


BRASILIA: Brazil’s first female presi- dent Dilma Rousseff, who takes up the helm on January 1, will lead a small but powerful group of women taking on the political challenges facing Latin America. When she is inaugurated as the head of the region’s biggest economy, Rousseff will be the most visible face of the inroads women are making into a paternalist tradition that has so long sidelined them into second- ary roles.


It will be a tricky test for


Rousseff, who takes over from her charismatic mentor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose gruff, bearded manner proved persuasive in a va- riety of situations—not least in getting her elected.


She joins a select club of Latina female leaders that already in- cludes Argentine President Cris- tina Kirchner and Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla. “In Brazil, there is an attempt to undermine Dilma’s legitimacy because she was chosen by Lula, as if she was incapable of mak- ing her own decisions just be- cause she’s a woman,” said Pro- fessor Rosemary Segurado, a so- cial sciences professor at Sao Paulo University. Rousseff, Lula’s former cabinet chief; Kirchner, first lady before taking over the presidency; and Chinchilla, a former vice-president of Costa Rica, are finding them- selves forced to prove “they are not in anyone’s shadow,” she said. “Latin American politics is seen as an area for men, and society has trouble accepting they have their own opinions, ideas and initia- tives,” she added. In Rousseff’s case, the fact she


had never run in an election be- fore winning the presidency was taken as evidence that she was sim- ply a prolongation of Lula’s gov- ernment—something which di- minished her own accomplish- ments, Segurado said. Chinchilla, likewise, faced criti-


cism that she was propelled to the top by her predecessor, Oscar Aria. And Kirchner was previously credited with being more influen- tial when she was the senator wife of president Nestor Kirchner. When she became president with her husband’s backing, “it was as if she had no political past” for much of the electorate, Segurado said.


In contrast, Chile’s former fe- male president Michelle Bachelet served as defense minister before becoming head of state, Segurado noted. She had successfully nego- tiated military matters that still felt the tug of ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet. “Bachelet is a case of a woman who had her own path, who man- aged to show she was not only a creation of ex-president Ricardo Lagos but a public figure in her own right,” she said.


Latin America also had several other female figures who, though not in the spotlight of international politics, were regarded as influen- tial within their own countries. They included Maraa Estela Martinez de Peron in Argentina, Nicaragua’s Violeta Chamorro and Panama’s Mireya Moscoso. In Haiti, former first lady Mirlande Manigat took 31 percent of the vote in November’s first round of presidential elections and will stand in next month’s run-off vote. Even after running their coun-


try’s affairs, some female leaders have remained at the forefront of global politics.


Bachelet, for instance, was cho-


sen by UN chief Ban Ki-moon this year to run UN Women, a gender- equality entity. Women “manage to always take decisions, and all decisions, not only the easy ones,” Bachelet re- cently told the Brazilian newspa- per O Estado de Sao Paulo. She also said Rousseff’s election


gave greater visibility to female leaders worldwide. “This contributes to changing the belief that women are second- class citizens,” she said.


Global view


increased employment five-fold to 611,000, exports ten-fold to over $40 billion per year, total invest- ments 45-fold to P1.5 trillion and remittances to the government 85- fold to P12 billion cumulatively. That’s excellent management. She instituted a culture of “ab- solute honesty and integrity and utmost service.” That’s dedication to service and love of country. I congratulate Lilia for a well-


deserved award. Here’s is the first part of her acceptance speech which is very inspiring for all women—and men: “I am a product of a public el- ementary school. My father was a public school teacher and my mother was a full-time house- wife. Looking back, she must have been a remarkable manager in her own right because she and


my father succeeded in sending all of us 11 siblings to college on my father’s public school teach- er’s income. “Lunch and dinner in the fam-


ily were always a big occasion, with my parents, us 11 siblings, and our household helpers who were like family to us, gathered around our humongous dining table. “My teacher-father made use of these family mealtimes to shape our character through oft- repeated simple maxims, such as “do unto others what you want others do unto you;” “If there’s a will, there’s a way;” vignettes like “Honest Abe” and the “Sturdy Spartans;” and dis- courses on virtues, especially of helping the helpless, and de- fending the downtrodden. “Thus, we have more lawyers


in the family than the other pro- fessions. Being the youngest of 11 siblings, I had to strive a lit- tle harder to be recognized. In our family sports, for instance, I had to exert much effort to be equal to them all—big, small, boy, girl—it made no difference to my siblings. I had to compete with each one of them because none of them will give me my quarters. No one gave me spe- cial consideration just because I was the youngest. “My father admonished us to get back quickly on our feet when we fall so that others won’t even notice our fall. “All of these life coachings honed and equipped me for my later years.”


Bna.biznewsasia@gmail.com


TUESDAY


December 14, 2010


A 5


opinion


WASHINGTON POST WRITERS GROUP


FROM THE SIDELINES


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